Expressive Wealth LLC Purchases Shares of 5,601 MetLife, Inc. $MET

Expressive Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 5,601 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $474,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Activest Wealth Management lifted its stake in MetLife by 205.8% during the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management acquired a new position in MetLife during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Prosperity Bancshares Inc acquired a new position in MetLife during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Trading Up 1.0%

MET opened at $94.44 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $67.33 and a 12 month high of $100.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.09, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.20 and a quick ratio of 0.20. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $92.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.17.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $13.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.67 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 23.39% and a net margin of 4.57%.MetLife’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.02 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, August 5th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 4.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be issued a $0.5925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 4th. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MET has been the subject of several research reports. TD Cowen lifted their target price on MetLife from $87.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of MetLife from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of MetLife from $93.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.64.

MetLife Company Profile

MetLife, Inc is a global provider of insurance, annuities and employee benefit programs. Headquartered in New York City, the company offers a range of risk protection and retirement solutions to individuals, employers and institutional clients. Its core businesses include life insurance, group benefits, retirement products such as annuities, and supplemental health products including dental and disability coverage.

In addition to traditional life and group insurance, MetLife provides workplace benefits and voluntary products distributed through employer-sponsored programs.